Image source: topwar.ru
The United States expects to conclude a major contract with India for the supply of Predator MQ-9B SeaGuardian multipurpose unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Washington hopes that the Indians are already "ripe" for a deal that will bring the United States several billion dollars. This is reported by Reuters.
According to the agency, which cites unnamed sources, the Americans plan to finally persuade the Indians to make a deal during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the United States, which is scheduled for June 22. India has long been hatching plans to put American drones into service, but the deal is constantly being disrupted for various reasons. The United States intends to put an end to this issue, but there is one problem that will be very difficult to solve. The thing is that India wants to produce part of the UAV components at its enterprises, and the United States is against it.
According to preliminary data, the Indians want to buy a large number of MQ-9B SeaGuardian, but the exact figures are not disclosed. In 2019, the Indian Ministry of Defense refused to purchase up to 30 UAVs in the United States for a total of about $ 6 billion. The order was to include 20 Predator-B attack drones (10 each for the Army and Air Force) and 10 reconnaissance RQ-4 Global Hawk (or other UAVs) for the Indian Navy.
To date, the Indian Navy uses two MQ-9B SeaGuardian, leased from the United States back in 2020 for a period of one year, "to see." While the lease agreement is being extended.
The MQ-9B SeaGuardian UAV is a marine version of the MQ-9B SkyGuardian drone, aka the Predator multipurpose unmanned complex. The MQ-9B medium-altitude drone was developed on the basis of the MQ-9 Reaper strike vehicle, its first flight took place at the end of 2016. The device is capable of flying at speeds up to 388 kilometers per hour and at an altitude of up to 14 thousand meters. The duration of the flight is up to 48 hours at a range of more than 11 thousand km.
